


The Bane Of My Existence

by Sirius_Whisk_Ers



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series), Thomas Sanders
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Road Trip, Explicit Language, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gay, Heavy Fluff, Human AU, Infrequent Explicit Language, Light Angst, M/M, Mild Angst, Pansexual Character, Road Trip, Roadtrip, Sanders Sides - Freeform, Slow Burn, Suggestive Themes, alternative universe, analogical - Freeform, aroace character, road trip au, roadtrip au, slowburn, thomas sanders - Freeform, tsshorts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-23
Updated: 2018-09-23
Packaged: 2019-07-16 01:31:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16075547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sirius_Whisk_Ers/pseuds/Sirius_Whisk_Ers
Summary: "Ugh, feelings. The bane of my existence."Unfortunately, feelings don't give us much choice. Sometimes, they eat us up and swallow us whole. Logan learns this the hard way.Facts and figures are easy enough; but how will he cope with love?~In which one road trip changes a man's life.





	1. Road Trip

Logan's POV:

  
"It'll be fun!" These three words, in my experience, meant it will be quite the opposite. I raised a questioning eyebrow at my friends, Patton and Roman, then sighed in defeat.    
"Who else will be coming," I asked, earning a grin from Roman.    
"You know Virgil, right?" Oh, of course, that bundle of joy. I've never gotten to know him, but he's unnecessarily snarky and frankly gets on my nerves. Figuratively, of course. "Don't you just look overjoyed, Logan." Roman laughed at my displeased expression.   
  
Over the next week, I went over checklists of what I would need for this absurd "road trip". I made sure I didn't forget anything, after all, what would I do if I was stranded with these lunatics without something essential? I couldn't imagine them being particularly equipped. I sighed in defeat; this was going to be tough.   
  
~   
  
The day came around way too quickly, and before I knew it, I got the phone call. Discarding the mug of dark coffee that I was holding, I responded.

"Salutations, Patton." I put the phone to my ear and spoke to the receiver. "Is it time?" I heard a rather over-excited squeal from the other end of the line.   
"Hiya!" I drummed my fingers on my desk nervously as my friend started to ensure I had every detail correct. Which, of course, I did. Why was I nervous? Was it the inconsistency of my routine I'd be having for the next few weeks? Was it the unfamiliarity of the locations I was to face? Was it... Virgil? "Does all that sound okay to you, Logan?" I snapped out of my momentarily spiraling thoughts to respond with a light spark of false enthusiasm.   
"Satisfactory, my dear friend."    
  
"I'll pick you up in 10!" I tried not to hyperventilate as I thought about the possibilities of the upcoming road trip.    
"All right," I confirmed before quickly hanging up.    
  
I rested my phone on the window ledge before heading over to my front room to grab my coat. After slipping into my long black coat I turned up the collar. What? It was a habit! And besides, it wasn't to look edgy, it was to keep my neck warm. Purely practical reasons. I swung my green satchel over my left shoulder, being sure to check that it hadn't caught the collar under the strap. I then checked the zipper on my roller-case and tugged it so that it was fully closed. Just before locking up the house, I endured a moment of dread as I patted my pocket only to find it empty. Once I had made sure to grab my phone from where I'd carelessly left it on the windowsill (phew), I headed out towards Patton's motor vehicle.    
  
As I neared the car, I saw that Patton was in the driver's seat, our good friend Roman had called "shotgun" (of course) and I was to be sitting in the passenger seat. I cracked my knuckles before opening the back door and noticing another man on the backseat behind Patton. He was smaller than I'd remembered, and hunched into the back corner of his seat. He was practically engulfed by his black hoodie, which also covered a pair of large, black headphones that were over his ears. His distracted eyes averted all contact and were vaguely directed towards whatever was outside his window. Oh, and was that eyeliner?

  
"Logan!"    
"Earth to nerd, are you receiving?" Patton had turned in his seat to face me, and Roman had clambered out of his to usher me into the backseat. I rolled my eyes but took the offer gratefully as he took my case and stacked it in the boot along with their belongings and other clutter. Once we were all seated, Patton started the engine back up. The car pulled out onto the road and we drove in silence for a few minutes. I hoped dearly that it wouldn't continue that way.   
  
"So," the driver chirped. "How is everybody?" Another beat of silence passed.    
"I, for one, am doing quite wonderfully," Roman enthused. "I have a life to appreciate! A fabulous group of friends, a wonderful girlfriend..." At the mention of a girlfriend, Patton's eyes turned to him, knowing yet confused. "She really is amazing. Kind, beautiful, talented..." He stopped as our friend's gaze turned from confused to mildly concerned. "Of course-" Roman continued, "it's not all perfect. We fight sometimes, y'know?" He twisted his body around a little and peered over his left shoulder at Virgil and me, as Patton refocused on the road. Virgil was still sitting silently, disinterested, staring at a phone screen, connected via headphones. I sat patiently, satchel perched on my lap, flask clutched in my right hand.    
  
"Girls, eh?" Roman tutted and laughed as if to create a topic that we could relate to. At that moment, the car braked at a red light, the silence seemed to become even more silent, broken only by the occasional knuckle crack or a distant car horn, and the three of us looked from Roman to each other, and back to Roman. Even Virgil looked up from his screen to feign a smile at the loud, chatty man sat in front of me. It was an extremely awkward expression, he didn't particularly seem like much of a social butterfly. 

  
After a few more moments of wondering about this less-than-familiar person beside me, I spotted Patton looking into the rear-view mirror, raising his eyebrows suggestively and me before gesturing to Virgil. I felt my cheeks heat up as I realised the length at which I must've been absent-mindedly staring at the other man. As the lights went green and the car started up again, I raised my warm flask to my lips and took a hefty swig of the contents, washing the embarrassment down with it. Enough of that feelings nonsense.   


And with that, our road trip had begun.


	2. Bop

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Car journey shenanigans, also Roman has the auxiliary cord. Bops ensue.

 

Virgil's POV:   
  
I had been looking forward to this trip for a while. I would never admit it, but the idea of a road trip sounded kind of... fun. However, thirty minutes into our first stretch and my anxiety had already started to kick in. I'd met Logan once or twice a while ago and he'd seemed like a nice guy, but sitting in close proximity to someone I was unfamiliar with definitely made me uncomfortable. Logan sat there, across from me, sat up tall against the seat, lost in a million thoughts, occasionally cracking his spindly fingers or shutting his eyes and sipping from his flask of— what was presumably— coffee.    
  
I realised then that I could hear sounds coming from outside my headphones. I opened Spotify and pressed pause on the music I was listening to (Infinity On High). Without removing my hood or my headphones, I listened closely to hear music playing from the car speakers. I also noticed an auxiliary cord snaking from the car radio to an iPhone with a glittery white and red case. I recognised the song immediately: the opening sequence from The Greatest Showman. Musicals were one of my guilty pleasures, and I'd only recently watched that particular one, so the lyrics were fresh in my mind.    
  
"Ladies and gents, this is the moment you've waited for." I rolled my eyes as Roman shut his eyes dramatically and lip-synced to the song. I noticed Patton in front of me, tapping at the wheel and humming. He was an amazing friend, he'd decided from the immense kindness of his heart to invite me of all people along with him on this trip. Roman and Patton were recently inseparable and Roman knew Logan from high school. Why would they choose to have me tag along? "It's fire, it's freedom, it's flooding open!" Roman seemed to know every lyric, and most certainly made it known. I wasn't too unfamiliar with them either, but if I wanted to make a din for the sake of making a din I would've started by now. "-I'll let you know, so tell me do you wanna go?"   
  
As the chorus started up, I peered back over at Logan. He seemed as reluctant as I was to get into the music that was currently playing through the speakers. Confused, almost. I chuckled under my breath as I spotted Logan in the corner of my eye as he wrinkled up his nose at a note Roman had sung out of tune. At the sound of my laugh, the pair of eyes that belonged to the same face as the nose that was wrinkled prior turned in my direction. I quickly redirected my glance to the window, as if he would forget that I'd been looking his way.    
  
"It's everything you ever want, it's everything you ever need, and it's here right in front of you, this is where you wanna be." That bit was my favourite, and a part of me wanted to join Roman in his dramatic shenanigans. I twitched a little, resisting.

  
"This is where you wanna be!" He sang, at the top of his lungs.

  
Logan and I exchanged a knowing look; Roman really was something else. He knew me better than the others and really did have a warm heart, it was just difficult to uphold a serious conversation with him. We'd talked about certain things before, and I really did feel like I would get on well with him from the very beginning. Of course, with Roman being Roman, he loved to take the piss out of me at every given opportunity: that's just the way he was. But the man could keep a secret. I owed him.    
  
Soon The Greatest Show was over, and I heard a very different yet familiar riff start through the speakers. I figured this must've been Roman's shuffle playlist or something like that. I heard the sound of Camila Cabello's voice and audibly groaned. I normally despised this kind of music, most things mainstream like this were overplayed and overrated. However, there was something about Camila's song that really drove me over the edge.    
  
"Half of my heart is in Havana oh-na-na.” I sighed audibly, knowing that these same words would be revolving around my head for the next six hours. I scolded myself for wanting to tap my foot, or move even a little to the beat. I listened to alternative music and therefore did not allow myself to enjoy this sort of thing. One thing that was pretty entertaining, though, was seeing Roman impersonate the trumpet player later on in the song. He really was a doofus.    
  
By this point I'd taken off my headphones; there really was no point in pretending anymore. Anyway, I was kind of curious to see what else this playlist had in store. After Havana, I was slightly confused about why there were snare drums playing. It took me a little while to figure out what song it was, but when I realised, I couldn't help but repress a little laugh.   
"Roman?" The man twisted and rested his arm on the back of his seat, pointing his elbow at Logan and his torso towards me.    
"Yes, V?" I did my very best to contain my laughter at this grown man's sincerity.   
"Is this... Disney music?" He responded with a proud smirk.   
"Would that be a problem?" He asked, bobbing his head lightly to the pulse.    
  
I shook my head as he turned back to the windscreen.   
"Let's get down to business," he boldly sang. Patton joined in as the next line began, "to defeat the Huns!" Then it was Logan's turn to fondly shake his head at the pair's behaviour. I barely knew the man, but thankfully we both saw the humour in the moment, and he even let out a chuckle when I began impersonating Roman’s dramatic lip-syncing to Mulan.    
"Mister I'll make a man out of you..." I sang, holding my fists in the air for mock-drama. Seeing who I'd known as a bit of an indifferent and skeptical kind of person attempt to contain his laughter at my actions gave me a sense of achievement, at least.   
  
As the song resolved, I collapsed back onto my seat, exhausted from the small amount of (what I classed as) exercise that I'd just put myself through. The two hours flew by, Roman's playlist making it all worthwhile. We continued to drive on toward the early-setting winter sun, jamming out to whatever decided to come onto shuffle. Although we were reluctant to admit it to ourselves, we did spend the last fifteen/ twenty minutes just letting Roman repeat Africa by Toto over and over again. Not that I was complaining- that was a song I could get down to. As Roman had said: “tis a bop”.


	3. Feelings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lil bit of angst in this chapter, just a forewarning!

Patton's POV:    
  
I drove up to the hotel car park, carefully stopping between two painted white lines.    
"We're here, guys! We can explore the area in the morning!" I tugged at the aux cord, ending the seemingly endless loop of the song "Africa", earning a noise of complaint from my right. As I stepped out of the car, I started to take in my surroundings. The sky was darker now, and I immediately noticed the difference it had to the city sky. In the country areas, where the there were fewer lights and fewer crowds, the stars were littered in every direction. It was truly beautiful. I snapped my focus back to reality and helped Virgil with his luggage as Roman did the same with Logan.   
  
The four of us, leaving most of our things in the car boot and only bringing a bag each, slowly made our way up to the hotel entrance. We collected four sets of keys: each for a small singular room on the third floor. It being quite late, we decided to hang out for a while in Roman's room. After a couple more hours of talking nonsense and listening to more Musicals, Disney, Beyoncé and other pop music, we gradually dispersed into our own rooms, me being the last remaining in Roman's room.    
  
Logan's POV:   
  
Recently, I'd been out of it. Hazy, distracted. At every silence, I'd be in another world. At every chance my mind got, it started dreaming. At first, I’d tried with my best efforts to focus on reality, to repress the stories I kept coming up with and the feelings that came with them. I knew that it was illogical to waste valuable hours of my days sitting, motionless, and overthinking. However, the came a point at which I ceased to restrain myself. I welcomed the thoughts, and let them spiral into chaos: imagining situation after situation that would almost definitely never become a reality. Once the floodgates were open, there was no closing them. 

 

I became almost addicted to these alternate realities and would return to them every day, this one being no exception. I laid back on top of the pristine white sheets of my hotel bed, at night, fully dressed, in the dark silence. I allowed my mind to travel down any and all directions, the random and nonsensical as well as the realistic and satisfying. Usually involving the people that I knew in real life.

  
Some days my entire life would be improved, and I would think about my wishes, such as aspirational career paths and my desire to drop my teaching profession in order to pursue the aforementioned paths. 

 

Some days it developed into something a little more… dark. I had faced death, as had others close to me. Any irrational fears that are present in anybody if they search well enough were all there in these daydreams, but it never made it stop. It would intrigue me further.

 

Some days it would be so full of emotion, I would end up in a world in which I was part of a romantic relationship. This was always a little strange to me, as I rarely felt even the slightest desire to partake in those sorts of things. I am perfectly functional as I am: independent of a man. For that reason, my sexuality was not exactly common knowledge. I never felt a need to share it.

 

Why did my brain go down these paths? There was no logical explanation, so I might never know. I’d never been the particularly imaginative type, I was more objective, organised, logical. So this… was new. Strange… fascinating. Even when it became distressing, it was fun to fantasise.

  
Roman's POV:   
  
The energy of the night had died down. I sat on a countertop, staring emptily into my palms. Thinking. Thinking about one person in particular, in fact.    
"Roman?" Patton mostly snapped me out of my daze as he tapped my shoulder. He knew.   
  
Vanessa. My girlfriend's name was Vanessa.   
  
"She's so talented, Patton." I slipped off the counter and began to pace the hotel bedroom, flailing my arms in the air at every emphasis. "She plays three different instruments, you know? All fabulously!" Patton looked up at me sadly from where he was perched on the hotel bed.   
"Roman." My pacing sped up.   
"She writes stories and-and... poetry that makes me tear up—heck— she even puts my legendary acting skills to the test!"   
"Roman!" An uncharacteristic yell came from my friend's mouth.   
  
I stopped pacing and turned to face him. I looked him in the eyes before sighing and sitting on the bed.    
"She broke up with you, Roman." My heart sank like the Titanic. I knew this, but the truth was too painful to face. "You're in denial and it's not healthy." At that moment, I couldn't hold on any longer. A strangled sob escaped my lips, and I pulled my knees up to my chest as I finally let the tears fall. It was too much. I missed her. My friend wrapped his warm arms around me as I began to shake. She's gone. She's gone.    
  
"W-we're in love, Pat." I choked out. He rubbed my shoulders firmly but comfortingly before responding.   
"Past tense, Roman. Please. Don't do this to yourself." I shook my head vigorously.   
"-but it's not  _ in  _ the past. I-I still l-love her... and I've never felt like that before. She was different, man." Patton held me closer to him, toying with my hair and hushing me gently.    
"I know." He held my shaking frame and I held him, too. "But it's been three months, Ro. I understand it's not easy, but you can't keep pretending. You can't live a lie." Another loud sob escaped my lips. I couldn't imagine anything without her. I was broken.


	4. Mornings & Mishaps

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There are many adventures up ahead... they must be prepared.

  
Logan's POV:   
  
It was the crack of dawn when I looked at him in the mirror. He was a mess, to put it kindly. His half-unbuttoned blue pyjama top had somehow folded in on itself on one side, the pyjama bottoms being equally uneven. Looking at his hair, I blinked twice and pushed it over to the side in an attempt to neaten it up a little. Still, it pointed in a million different directions. I sighed when I saw his attempts to straighten himself up; nothing about him was straight. I sighed again at the pun and immediately blamed it on Patton’s influence.    
  
Heading towards the bathroom, now equipped with my glasses, I sorted out my shirt and brought my day clothes and hairbrush along, too. Just as I reached for the handle on the door, it pushed itself down and said door swung open, soon hitting me square in the face. I groaned in pain and clutched my aching nose, repeatedly cursing under my breath. The door closed and reopened as I stepped back this time. Behind the doorway stood Roman. He looked like almost as much as a mess as I did. Taking one look at me, hunched over, my glaring face in my palms, he spluttered then let out a hearty chuckle. When he didn't stop laughing, even after more dirty looks, I yelled at him.   
  
"Roman!" He repressed more giggles by clamping his mouth shut with his own palm.   
"Apologies, ye olde nerd. Did I hurt your face, or did those glasses protect you?" I pushed past him and examined myself in the bathroom mirror. I removed the frames from my face and noticed what looked (and felt) like a bruise over the bridge of my nose.    
"Congratulations, half-wit. Look what you've done." Roman joined me next to the mirror in the bathroom, still grinning tiredly.   
  
"So the glasses failed to guard your little face?" I slipped said specs back up my nose and decided I'd had enough of Roman's nonsense.    
"Get over yourself, man," I said, guiding the man outside of the bathroom with a gentle shove and a slam of the door in his face, hopefully without actually hitting it. With a deep sigh, I turned away from the now locked door and— finally— began to change into my daytime clothing.    
  
Soon enough, the four of us were sat around a dark mahogany table in the hotel dining area.    
"Everyone sleep well?" I looked up from slicing my bacon rasher to see Patton in front of an already-empty plate, sitting upright and seemingly wide awake. Virgil shrugged and made a noise of vague agreement, mouth presumably full of food. Roman sent Patton a weak smile, seemingly forced. I nodded along and actually replied.   
"Relatively."    
  
Patton sighed and slid his plate onto a tray.    
"C'mon, guys! Today's gonna be great- the trip has barely begun! There are endless things to do around here, it's hard to know where to start!" He enthused, which I was thankful for since without that I believe the atmosphere would be, as they say, rather 'dead'.   
"I suggest we begin at the cof-"   
"Nope," the bubbly man cut me off, "I've got it all planned!" Patton stood from the table, pushing up his circular glasses before collecting the collective leftovers onto his tray and heading towards the bin.    
  
Virgil and Roman leaned over the table, the former with his mouth near the other's ear.    
"I've got the stash." My eyes widened in concern as the pair leant back and shook their left hands on some sort of strange, unspoken agreement. Virgil started digging through a dark backpack of his and Roman smirked, contributing to my confusion. I sighed in relief as I saw the short man lift a LARGE multipack of Walkers crisps* out of said bag. It was quickly stuffed back to its previous position when Patton returned.    
  
"Alright kiddos, we're going to the beach!" Patton's curls bounced as he hopped from heel to heel excitedly.   
"Is this not a democracy, Pat?" Virgil piped up, only half-jokingly. He then corrected himself and asked us 'kiddos' who wanted to go, to which we all agreed.    
  
The four of us were soon at the hotel entrance, in shorts and light tops. The beach with these guys should be rather... entertaining. Patton had stacked up lots of supplies for that day, he was surprisingly prepared. However, it seems he had prepared for the wrong day. The automatic doors opened as we neared them, allowing a small puddle to partially flood into the lobby entrance. The four of us turned to each other, looking rather disheartened.   
"Don't be discouraged!" Patton piped up, somehow with an optimistic tone. The rumble of thunder crashed from somewhere outside:   
"Are you kidding?" Virgil moaned, folding his arms in protest. "This is going  _ amazingly _ ."    
  
Just as he sighed and twisted on his heel to head back to his room, Patton placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.    
"...Virgil-" Much to everyone's surprise, he was quick to shrug the hand off him and to step away.    
"Sorry guys," he started hesitantly, "I just- I-" and after a few more stammers, he went swiftly towards the elevator. Roman and I sighed simultaneously.    
  
"Listen." Patton sounded determined. "We will have a good time on this road trip, okay? All of us." Roman looked unsure, as was I. Patton's dad-friend instincts were kicking in as he gestured for us to follow Virgil upstairs. "If it kills me," he muttered.


	5. All Or Nothing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things don't seem to be going well, can they turn this road trip around? Meanwhile, they learn more about each other.

Logan's POV:   
  
"So? Have you got a plan?"    
  
Patton was marching towards his hotel room, with an exhausted-looking Roman trudging along behind him. I wondered for a moment if he'd had a wink of sleep that previous night. He'd seemed alright that morning when he'd slammed a door on my face. When he laughed it usually made up for the build-up of dark circles underneath his tired brown eyes.   
"Of course, Logie. Why do you doubt it?" I shrugged. I really didn't have the energy to get into any sort of conversation at that moment. My hopes had never been high, exactly, for the trip, but even I was disappointed at the turnout so far. I was curious about what it was that Patton had planned.    
  
We finally entered his room: Roman immediately perched on the end of the bed, I sat politely on an off-white wooden chair beside a white-painted desk in the corner of the hotel room. The cheeriest man of the group was already rummaging around his baby-blue suitcase for something.    
"Hey, Roman? Do you have any snacks?" Not wanting to disappoint, Roman responded immediately by jumping up and heading straight for his own bag, which was situated by the door to the hotel room. His eyes quickly changed from eagerness to realisation before turning back to face Patton. "My apologies, I may have left the snacks with-"   
"Did someone say snacks?" Virgil burst through the door, his timing impeccable as ever.    
  
Patton rushed over to the shorter man and (after politely asking for permission) enveloped him in a welcoming hug.   
"So, you decided to join us, Virge?" Virgil shrugged.   
"Why not." With that, the four of us were soon sat in a circle, of sorts; Roman with a knee to his chin, his other leg outstretched and his back against the far end of the bed that he was previously sitting on; Patton sat up on his knees enthusiastically and Virgil cross-legged between the others in the corner closest to the door. I remained in the chair beside Patton, declining the offer of crisps that were being passed around.    
  
"Let's play a game!" I noticed how adjusted we all were to Patton's childlike attitude, and that not one of us was fazed by it.   
"Never have I ever... uh... jumped off a cliff!" Roman grinned. Patton, Virgil and I exchanged glances, before raising five fingers and not putting any of them down. Funnily enough, none of us had ever jumped off a cliff. Somebody needed to go next, so we all looked around at each other, uninspired. I decided it would be best if we took turns that went around the circle clockwise, meaning that I would be the one to go next.    
  
"Never have I ever been in love," I blurted unthinkingly, earning surprised expressions from everyone, myself included. I decided that it was too late to take back. Roman's thumb went down in an instant and he shrugged as if it was obvious. After some thought and a visible gulp, Virgil's thumb did the same. I glanced over at Patton expectantly, only to see him remain almost completely still, grin and all. Roman seemed to chuckle knowingly.   
"Pat?" Virgil piped up, confused. Patton was the most loving person I knew, so I was surprised, too.    
"Shucks! Have I not told you guys yet? I'm aroace, actually. Do you know what that means?" The three of us nodded, contemplating. "I've never even  _ liked  _ anyone in that way. But, uh, that’s enough about me—"    
  
I was a little taken aback. I never would have suspected that a friend of mine was also LGBTQ+, I always presumed I would mostly be friends with straight people. It felt weirdly... nice... to know that I wasn't alone. I zoned back into the scene when some Pringles were being passed around. I couldn't resist this time and gave in to the temptation, taking a small handful and balancing it on my knee.   
"Never have I ever kissed another man," Patton stated, smiling contentedly all the while, "...obviously," he added quietly at the end.    
  
Roman whined that it wasn't fair, and put his forefinger down to join his thumb. I raised my eyebrows even further than they were already raised.    
"C'mon, you knew I was Pan." Wow, I thought to myself. Pansexual? I was shocked, to say the least. That would make the  _ majority  _ of u-   
"All or nothing," Virgil muttered, pointing to Roman then Patton. The latter then gasped, overjoyed.    
"Was that a  _ pun _ , Vir-" he cut himself off, noticing that Virgil had also put his forefinger to his palm. This time, I was surprised in a completely different way. Did Virgil also like men? When Patton pointed this out to him, his cheeks flushed a dark crimson.    
"Yeah, I guess. I have kissed a man... a few, actually." It was at this point at which I realised the corners of my mouth were turned up significantly, and it took some effort and self-control to stop it from doing... that.    
  
"Never have I ever had a dog," Virgil stated, going off track from the previous topic. My family never had pets as I'd grown up in a flat with my Mom who was pretty much broke. Patton nodded enthusiastically and put down his thumb whilst Roman sighed dramatically and put down yet another finger.   
"I feel targeted. Honestly, Logan, is there anything that you've ever done?" A blunt statement coming from him, I remembered back to high school and how when I was studying he was always at those drama kid rehearsals. He smirked as he finally came up with something that he could possibly stump me with. "Never have I ever stood up a good friend at a  _ very  _ important event just to stay cooped up at home,  _ studying _ ." Patton and Virgil watched him, confused. The latter even added,   
"That seems quite specific, Roman, I doubt-" I growled at the smug man as I realised what he was referring to.    
  
One time, in high school, he'd invited me to one of his theatrical performances. It was Romeo and Juliet, in which he was Romeo. I remember he'd explicitly requested for Juliet to be portrayed as a more acceptable age to be with Romeo in today's society, to which the school had agreed. From there, they had constructed what was apparently a rather incredible take on the classic Shakespearean play. He was extremely proud of himself.    
"That was one time, Roman." However, when it came to the final performance... something came up. I may have even... forgotten...    
  
The two onlookers looked over at me, eyebrows raised.    
"You're a traitor, and you know it." He had always been the dramatic type. However, after knowing him for a number of years, I had learned how to get my revenge on him.   
"Never have I ever almost broken a friend's nose by slamming a door onto their face." He was sighing before I'd even finished my turn. By this point, Roman had only his pinky finger left standing.   
"You did what, Ro?" Patton interjected before Roman could retaliate. He reluctantly explained the context behind the story to both Patton who seemed genuinely concerned and Virgil who was repressing laughter.   
"-and no, his nose is fine." At this point, I heard Virgil snort, which somehow set off my laughter, too. Even Roman started to see the funny side, after grumbling something about my glasses.   
  
"Never have I ever sung a Disney song at the top my lungs in the passenger seat of a car."   
"Oh, _ come on _ !"


	6. Logan Sandy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Patton has a trip to the beach planned. Logan and Roman discover their competitive sides.

 

Logan's POV:   
  
"RIGHT, KIDDOS!"   
  
The somehow optimistic-sounding yell sounded relatively early in the morning. We had spent nearly the entirety of the previous day playing games, chatting and eating snacks. Not exactly my initial picture of an enjoyable day, but it had actually been rather... entertaining. That morning I had already awoken by the time Patton knocked at my hotel door, but I was slightly taken aback considering the time at which he had arrived. The forecast had been promising, so we were geared up and ready to go. We made sure to collect everything from the hotel rooms (because our booking had timed out and we didn't want anything to collected by some cleaner) before we left.   
  
At the beach, Patton went straight for a clear spot and spread out a beach mat. The sand was warm beneath my bare feet (Patton had assured me this was the smartest move, which turned out to be correct,) and the sea stretched out to the horizon. I had expected giant waves to be crashing violently against the land, but that wasn't the reality. A gentle ambience was all I could hear from the gigantic mass of water. It all felt like the childhood I never had. Roman spotted me gazing out into the distance as he came up behind me and called my name. When I didn't respond, he added,   
"what? Have you never seen the sea before or something?"   
  
I shook my head.   
  
"So... you've never sunbathed? Built sandcastles? Skimmed stones?" I forced my eyes from the expanse of blue to see Roman's thinking face. Once he realised I had done none of these things, his sympathetic expression was suddenly paired with a glint of something in his eye. He grabbed my hand and pulled me towards where Patton and Virgil were settling down on a mat. Patton adjusted his sunhat and grinned up at me and Roman.   
"Virgy wants to make sandcastles. You in?" I saw Virgil tense up a little defensively, and nudge Patton as if to tell him off for something. That man really did blush easily.   
  
"Oh, it is _on_ !" Roman clapped the blushing man on the back enthusiastically before they both stood up and each went to a suitable space. I would've rather not participated, so I sat next to Patton. Rather than boring, sitting in the sun was actually... relaxing. We talked lightly about nothing in particular, laughed a few times, stayed hydrated. Until Patton went to help Roman out with his castle. I sighed, what nonsense was this? Before long, Roman was winning, and Virgil was struggling to keep up. Patton was "assisting" Roman with his castle, even if he wasn't helping particularly much.   
"I've got this in the bag. I cannot be defeated!" Roman boomed dramatically. There were days like this where this man really got on my nerves. For some reason, seeing that Virgil had no chance against him sent me over the edge.   
  
I marched over to Virgil and knelt next to what he had built so far.   
"Lo- what are you doing?" He inquired, humour lacing his tone. I had begun to scoop sand around in a circle.   
"I am making a.. uh... moat. So that if the tide comes in it won't knock over the castle." Virgil sat back, propped up on his hands, legs outstretched and crossed over in front of him, laughing lightly. It felt a little out-of-place seeing a man who seemed to be more of the 'Stay Indoors In The Dark' type sitting here out in the burning sun, laughing in the sand.   
"Anyone could've thought of that, nerd." I heard a familiar voice yell from the other side of the beach mat that Patton had laid out on the sand.

“But ya didn't!” Virgil combatted.

 

This went on for some time, Virgil designing the best castle he could to beat Roman, me trying to make the structure as strong as possible so that it was less easily destroyed (considering that it was made up of purely sand), Roman frantically trying to build something as high as possible without Patton knocking it over and Patton placing shells all around the sides. By the time the water reached our castles (which was about an hour later), mine and Virgil’s creation was looking relatively magnificent. It was quite obviously up to Roman’s standards, or at least close, but I knew that man would never accept defeat. The ocean swayed that decision quite easily; that and Roman’s tower. Our elegant structure managed to withstand the tide, however.

  
Roman started whining that it wasn’t fair and that the game was rigged as if the ocean was somehow biased towards me and Virgil. I have to admit, it was quite hilarious seeing him being reduced to such a childlike state. It was silly and petty, but I also loved it when I won against Roman, especially seen as he had always been better than me at many a thing. After high-fiving with Virgil, I gathered my things and returned to the mat, which had been moved further away from the sea by this time. For the remainder of the day, pretty much, we lay in the burning coastal sun. Every so often Roman, Patton and even sometimes Virgil went down to the sea to “paddle” around. I could always see Roman showing off by swimming against the waves and looking over at me to check if I was watching from where I was reading. It was an enticing book about a dystopian world which I could not put down. Midway through the day Patton bought us all lunch and insisted that we weren’t to pay him back for it. The same thing happened in the evening.   
  
It had been a wonderful day, and I beginning to think that maybe, just maybe, this trip wouldn't be a disaster after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Please comment and tell me your thoughts! I hope you all have a wonderful day/night, stay safe <3
> 
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